Wheels
by weasleytwinfever
Summary: Lanie Duval believes herself to be a perfectly normal perfectly happy human being, ignoring the accident three years ago that has left her wheelchair bound. When forced to move to her mom's small hometown of La Push, WA she decides to put on a brave face and deal with it. She ends up meeting a group of larger boys, sweet girls, and a special guy who is angry at the world.
1. Chapter 1

"Mom!" I yelled out, rolling myself quickly down the hall. "Dear sweet mother of mine!" I called again, not receiving an answer the first time.

It was a Monday morning and not only was I awake at 7am, but I was late for my first day of school in this god-forsaken small town of La Push, Washington.

"I'm in the kitchen, Lanie!" I finally heard a response and rolled lightly around the corner, pausing to huff at her in agitation.

"We're going to be late." I told her simply, looking up at her with a cross expression, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Then go get in the car and I will be out there in a second to load up your chair." She responded, tossing a Nutella covered bagel at my face before turning me around and pushing me to the door.

I made another noise of irritation before rolling out the door and down the small ramp to the driveway.

Yes, ramp and yes, roll. I was in a wheelchair, had been for a little over three years now. I guess it's just about time for introductions. My name is Lanie Ashton Duval. I'm 17 years young with long black hair, copper skin, blue eyes, and curves to die for...that is, if you could get past the chair.

When I was 14 I was in a bad car accident with my best friend, Max. We were driving along the road, singing obnoxiously to the radio when a truck decided to not stop for a stop sign, smashing into my side and rendering my legs useless from then on. It was hard at first, I was MVP my freshman year of high school on the Varsity Girl's Soccer Team and after the accident, well, that was put on hold...forever. I try to smile through it though.

About a month ago my mom was offered a new, and frankly, a better job here in La Push. She was the head curator at the La Push Tribal Museum and she loved it. I was more than happy for her, she had grown up in La Push and was fully Quilete, which is the reason for my tan and rocking Raven hair. I get my eyes from my very Irish father. Though I was happy for her, I really and I mean REALLY did not want to leave LA, I mean, who would? But I grin and bear it, like usual.

I slide open the door of the van and reached up, grabbing for the straps hanging down from the frame and pulled myself up, using every bit of my upper body muscles to lift myself up and into the seat of the car, buckling myself in as mom came outside. She folded up my purple-bodied wheelchair and slid it into the van before handing me my book bag and getting in.

The drive was comfortably quiet, pop music playing gently in the background as I took in the extensive woods around the area. I stared into the trees, pushing my face closer to the window when I saw a big dark shape moving between the trunks.

"Stop pushing against the window, Lane. You're not escaping." Mom teased, breaking my concentration and riling me up. I stuck my tongue out at her as she pulled up in front of a small concrete structure. She got out and opened the door, helping me into the chair while I attempted to ignore people's stares.

"This is a school?" I asked her, looking at the small prison with disbelief.

"Yes, and you'll have fun. Bye, Lanie. Call me if you need me." She called quickly over her shoulder as she walked away, leaving my book bag hanging over the back of my chair. Traitor.

I sighed and decided I might as well get this over with. I adjusted my collared white dress and the small brown belt around my waist, fluffed the gentle curls in my hair, and took a deep breath. "Let's do this thing."

I rolled through the parking lot, ignoring people's whispers around me and kept my eyes on the front of the school, that is, until a small native girl stepped in front of my view.

"Hey! Are you new? I've never seen you before, I'm sure of it. I'm Kim!" The girl said cheerfully, holding out her hand and I couldn't help but smile slightly. What could I say? I'm a sucker for enthusiasm.

"Hey, yeah, I'm new. I'm Lanie, what's up?" I responded simply, shaking her hand, and giving her a nervous smile.

"Not much, just trying to build up the courage to school." She said, making a face at the building and I couldn't stifle a laugh.

"I feel you. This place looks like a prison compared to my old school in LA." I told her and watched as her eyes lit up.

"LA?!" She squealed, causing me to flinch lightly at the sound. "I love California! I went there on vacation last summer and it was so beautiful! It's so rainy here and First Beach doesn't have anything on the beaches there!" She rambled and I just watched her go with wide eyes. This girl could talk.

Suddenly, a bell sounded and everyone headed for the building as Kim's ramble died off. "Oh, it's class time. I can show you to the office if you'd like, my first period is English and my teacher won't care if I'm late." She said with a kind smile and I nodded.

"Sure, thanks, Kim." I pushed back on the wheels of my chair, propelling myself forward and towards the school...steps...Wow, why hadn't I noticed that before?

Kim paused, looking unsure of what to do next when a deep voice sounded from behind.

"Need some help?"

I turned in my chair to see a group of huge guys, looking at Kim and I with eyebrows raised. I couldn't help but chuckle lightly at their serious expressions, causing them to look at me with confusion.

"Sorry." I snorted and heard Kim's giggle sound too.

"Yeah, guys. Could you give us a hand? We really should have ramps here at the Reserve School..." Kim trailed off thoughtfully as I shrugged.

"Sure thing." One of the guys said, giving me a wide smile. "I'm Jacob Black." He introduced himself and I smiled back. His smile was welcoming. "This here is Embry Call, Quil Atera...Junior, and Seth Clearwater." He said pointing at the tall guy, then the shorter one, and the younger in a row.

"Nice to meet you guys." I said lamely, offering a small wave as Jacob nodded. He and Embry each grabbed a side of my wheelchair and easily walked it up the steps, setting me down on the top platform. I looked at them in shock. No grunts of effort, no complaints about the weight, no anything. I shook my head lightly as Seth and Quil bounded up the stairs and to the other guys, standing near them once more. What was up with them? They acted like a herd of horses or something.

I said my thanks and turned to wheel in beside Kim, following her lead to the office when I heard footsteps behind us. I glanced back and spotted the boys following along and looked at Kim, raising an eyebrow. "They're friends." She reassured me and I nodded slowly.

Whatever she says..


	2. Chapter 2

I followed Kim into the main office, smiling at the lady behind the desk who just looked down at me with a bored expression.

"Lanie Duval?" She asked bluntly and I nodded, my smile faltering a bit.

"Here's your schedule, locker and lunch numbers, school map, and parking pass." She ticked off the items, holding the bundle out to me, but before I could even move to take the thing, it was already in a pair of large tanned hands.

"We have first, third, lunch, and fifth together, Lanie!" Jake informed me happily, passing the bundle to the other boys while I rolled my eyes.

"Thank you for that wonderful information, Jake. Now, if I could see what those periods are, that'd be lovely." I drawled out sarcastically, holding my hand out for my stuff.

Quil smiled brightly and placed the papers in my hand. "Fiesty isn't she?" He stated with a wink in my direction. "Too bad she isn't any of our m-" He began saying but was cut off by Kim's elbow being jabbed in his ribs.

"Ignore him, Lanie! He's such a flirt!" She ranted quickly before turning to the door and rushing out of it, holding it open for me.

"I'll show you our class, Lanie!" Jake said, taking the handles of my chair into his big palms and I just looked at him.

"You don't have to push me around, Jacob." I told him, not liking that he thought me as helpless. I looked hopelessly at the rest of the group who just chuckled as Jake rolled me away. I sighed in resignation and looked up at my kidnapper.

"I know. I'm just used to it." He answered, his happiness not broken for a moment.

"Used to it?" I questioned and he nodded.

"Yeah, my dad's in a wheelchair." He said, smiling down at me as I thought over what he said.

His dad was in a wheelchair? I ran the thought back in forth in my mind, wondering whether to ask why or not and decided against it.

I was saved from further disscussion on the matter when he pointed out our first class, Biology.

Taking a deep breath I swatted his hands away and rolled towards the door and across the threshold, trying to not be nervous as the class fell silent.

"Ah, you must be Miss Duval." A man, who I assumed was the teacher, said while walking towards me.

"That's me." I replied with a small smile.

"I see that Mister Black took it upon himself to associate you with the Reserve's High School..." He continued, raising an eyebrow at Jacob who just shot him a grin and took his seat.

"Well, Miss Duval. Please face the class and say a few things to introduce yourself."

I gulped slightly and turned my chair, facing the tanned and curious faces of the class in front of me. Some were friendly while others were bored, interested, or flat-out bitchy.

"I'm Lanie Duval, as you heard and yes, I'm wheelchair bound. I was in a bad accident a few years back and now my legs don't really work."

I waited for the whispers and snickers to die down before continuing.

"I used to play soccer and I was pretty beast if I do say so myself, but now I tend to just paint and sing." I finished and looked at the teacher, whose name I discovered was Mr. Harper according to the board.

"Good, now we arranged for your seating there." He told me, pointing to a raised desk in the very back, alone and with no chair tucked underneath it.

I let out a sigh and wheeled down one of the aisles, ignoring the disappointed eyes of Jake when he realized I wouldn't be near him and into my lonely corner of shame.

I tucked myself under the edge of the desk and rested my arms on its face, stretching up slightly in an attempt to see the board.

It was going to be a long year.

When the bell rang I was pretty relieved and rolled towards the exit, just to be stopped by Jake.

"You looked miserable." He noted and I shrugged. I was used to it by now.

"I was just bored." I played it off and he narrowed his eyes at me. Thankfully, I was saved by the always reliable Kim. She bounded over to me and smiled widely.

"How'd it go?" She asked before beaming when I replied with a "Pretty good."

"That's awesome! We have AP US History together!" She told me, moving to push my wheelchair off down the hall without a second glance.

"See you, Jacob!" I called over my shoulder as Quil and Embry approached him and didn't miss the small smile that appeared on his lips.

I could get use to that smile.


	3. Chapter 3

I averted my attention to the white board in the front of the room as Jake turned around to glare at me. I whistled casually as if I hadn't just chucked an eraser at the back of his head.

It was the final period of my first day of school and I was already bored out of my mind to say the least.

"I know it was you, Lanie." Jake whispered loudly back to me, causing me to look at him, my face full of innocent confusion.

"Why, whatever do you mean, Jacob?" I asked, a small grin gracing my lips.

He snorted at my attempt of innocence and turned back around. I chuckled lightly to myself, ignoring the judging eyes of those around us before readying another eraser.

I took aim with the rubber band and let it fly, gasping lightly as Jake easily caught it, not even turning to look back. I let my hands drop onto the surface of my desk with a loud thud.

"Ah, yes, Miss Duval, you know the answer?" Mrs. Milton asked, giving me a cruel smile. Bitch knew I wasn't paying attention.

"Well, if you would read the question then I might. I can't see the board around Quil's fat head." I told her, causing the class to break out into laughter as Quil turned, tossing a pencil at my face.

"Office, Miss Duval. Go there." Mrs. Milton said without a second thought and my jaw dropped. She was sending me to the office for a joke? My old teachers would have just snorted and continued on. What a horrid woman.

"That's not fair, she was just kidding." Jake said, coming to my defense.

"Mr. Black, you can accompany her" She responded flatly."You two as well." She added as Embry and Quil stood up.

I rolled my eyes. I was going to get detention on my first day. That had to be a record.

"Fine. Let's go boys. For Narnia!" I yelled, raising one of my arms out in front of me as Embry pushed me out the door.

"You're such a dork." Quil told me.

"You're just jealous, fat head." I responded sweetly, causing Jake and Embry to snort.

An few hours later, I was staring at the ceiling tiles as Jacob and the others talked around me. The principle was out somewhere so we were stuck here, waiting until he got back at the end of the day.

"We're going to have to call Sam to get us out." Embry told Jacob and Quil, getting my attention. "I can't have my mom hearing about this. She's already pissed about...uh, my late nights." He finished quietly, glancing my way.

"I get it, man. My dad can't get over here very well or I'd call him. I'll shoot Sam a text." Jake said with a shrug, pulling out his phone.

"Who's Sam?" I asked randomly, causing all of them to tense.

"He's..uh, well, he's a good friend and he's in with the Elders soo..." Quil covered, trailing off at the end.

I gave him a look, but dropped it, looking back at the ceiling as the final bell rang.

I listened as the door opened and the boys got up from where they were. I heard Jacob snort at whatever he was met with.

"Did you have to bring everyone?" He asked, his voice full of humor. I finally decided to look over and was met with the sight of three huge guys standing in shorts and tank tops near the office door.

"Uhh?" I let the noise hang until Embry looked at me with a gentle smile.

"Sorry, Lanie. These guys are Sam, that friend we were telling you about, Jared, Kim's boyfriend, and Paul, a douchebag." He explained and I laughed lightly at his last character summary before stopping abruptly as a snarl tore from Paul's chest.

"Uhhh?" I repeated as Sam slapped the back of Paul's head.

"It's nice to meet you, Lanie. Kim was already texting me about you. It's your first day, right?" The happier looking one, Jared, asked me while shaking my hand.

"You got it, Jare-bear." I said, smiling as he cringed at the nickname. "Oh, yeah. I read your name in Kim's phone." The rest of the boy's chuckled.

I heard the door again and everyone turned around to look at the tall Native man in the doorway, dressed in a nice suit, eyeing our group and letting out a heavy sigh. "You guys again?" He said, sounding tired.

The boys laughed while I looked on in confusion. "Uhhhh?"


End file.
